Something Wrong
by PennyGirl
Summary: In the Albequerque Marshal's office, Eleanor knows all and sees all, and she sees that something's wrong...


Disclaimer: I don't own In Plain Sight, or its characters, and am not making any money off of this story.

* * *

**Something Wrong...**

Something was wrong.

Eleanor had worked in law enforcement offices for awhile. She was used to uncomfortable situations. When she'd had the analyst job it was it was politics, criminals, office rivalry. Here in Albuquerque it was errant witnesses, hostile FBI agents, fights over desks, inter department law enforcement struggles with cases. She got into tiffs with Mary at least twice a week. Saw her yell on the phone three times that much _every day_, had seen Stan in full blown rages with officers who'd violated a witness's security, Marshall once pulled out a shotgun just to intimidate someone. Suffice it to say, she could handle almost everything.

Today though…today was another story.

It started out normal enough. She showed up early, as usual. Started coffee, went through the faxes sent in during the night, turned on her computer. Charlie showed up than, eager beaver that he was. They chatted amicably for a few minutes, she gave him files for past cases he was looking at, took a few calls, and went to grab some early FedEx packages that came in for them.

Mary was there when she came back. The usually fiery minx was quiet as she came in. tapping away at her computer, her usual look of determination while working on her face. Eleanor put on her usual strained smile when dealing with Mary and gave her a greeting. "Hello Mary."

"Hi, Eleanor," Mary said distractedly, glancing at the clock above the door as she kept tapping.

Eleanor allowed herself to be only mildly impressed by Mary's typing skills while looking away as she was. "How are you today?" Eleanor asked.

"Fine," Mary replied. She grabbed some papers from the silver tray by her printer and said, "Can you fax these to the Seattle office for me, please?"

Eleanor stopped mid rip on the box she'd been opening. "Um…sure." She stepped over to take the papers and Mary smiled at her kindly. "Thanks."

Eleanor started and gave a small smile back. "No problem."

Mary glanced at the clock once again and turned back to her computer, typing faster, if possible, as Eleanor went to the fax. There were a lot of them, so it took awhile. Eleanor watched Mary as she did so, noting that the marshal's movements were brisk and efficient. She also noted that Mary glanced at the clock at least four more times before Eleanor printed out the fax confirmation. She was turning back to get across the office when Marshall arrived.

Eleanor gave him a bright smile as she passed him and handed the papers to Mary. "Good morning!"

Marshall nodded abruptly, his usually cheerful demeanor replaced with a slight grumpiness. "Good morning." He saw Mary behind her desk. "You're here early."

Mary shrugged as she turned away to file the papers. "Yes, well, busy day. I've got a lot of witnesses to see." She slid the drawer shut and returned to her computer screen, not even glancing at Marshall as she worked. "Gotta get stuff done early so I can get to them all; probably won't be back today."

Marshall gave a slight frown at her words, (hardly noticeable really, at least, to Eleanor) and sat at his desk. "Is there any coffee?" he asked Eleanor.

Eleanor smiled at him. "Of course. Would you like some?"

"I'll get it," Marshall said, tapping on his computer and letting it boot as he made his way across the office. Mary ignored him as he passed, her fingers working more furiously than before. Eleanor looked back and forth between the two, noting the stiffness they were showing each other, but shrugged it off as Monday grumps as she returned to her desk to finish with the packages.

Marshall finished making his coffee and called out, "Mary?"

"What?"

"Coffee?"

Mary huffed and angrily tapped the log off for her computer. "No." she pushed her chair back and threw her coat on as she walked through the door and let it slam shut behind her. Marshall's gaze was what Eleanor could only describe as frustrated as he sipped his coffee and took his seat behind his desk.

* * *

Despite her words earlier in the morning about witnesses and not returning to the office, a possible security breach to someone's identity brought Mary back to the office, leading a pissy teenager by the arm and grumbling about the amount paper work she was about to have to do. The young man yelped as Mary shoved him into a seat at the conference room table and growled at him to stay there until further notice.

"Rough day?" Marshall asked.

Mary looked at him scathingly and Marshall's concerned face took on a glare in response as she tapped on her computer. "Forget I asked," he said.

Mary sat in her seat hard. "Good call." She picked up the phone and began to make calls.

Eleanor watched it all from her desk, and began to be concerned.

* * *

Two hours later, and Mary let her witness loose with the declaration of a false alarm and a warning not to get in a situation that requires that much useless work again. As the elevator doors shut behind the boy, Mary glanced at the clock and frowned. "Something wrong?" Eleanor asked as she slid some papers into the fleegler.

"Not really," Mary replied, returning to her desk, "Just a bit late to see some of my witnesses is all." She returned to her desk and Eleanor watched her begin her cleanup. Eleanor was not deaf to notice that again Marshall offered to help, and again, Mary declined.

Eleanor watched it all with silence, grabbed some papers for a cover, and let herself into Stan's office.

Stan looked up. "Yes?"

Eleanor shut the door and dropped the papers on a chair. "Have you been watching the show before you today?"

Stan frowned as he looked back at his papers and scrawled out his signature. "What show?"

"Mary and Marshall."

"What about them?"

"Something weird is going on with them."

"Like what?" Stan asked.

"Well, it's Mary."

"What about her?" Stan asked, flipping to another page.

"She's been acting weird. She's being rude, ignoring Marshall, and trying her damndest to get out of the office."

"So what else is new?" Stan asked jokingly.

Eleanor frowned, crossed her arms, and dropped the bomb. "And she's being nice to me."

Stan's pen stopped as he was crossing his T's. "What do you mean?"

Eleanor explained the thing with the papers this morning and Mary's response to her, how she'd actually used _please_ and _thank you_.

Stan frowned. "Maybe she just wanted to be nice to you today."

Eleanor snorted and gave him a look of disbelief. He shrugged, "Okay, maybe not".

"And even if she had just decided to be nice, "Eleanor explained, "It doesn't explain her attitude with Marshall though."

"What do you mean?" Stan asked.

Eleanor gestured out the window. "Watch."

Stan did as she asked and watched as Mary worked and Marshall tried to engage her in some form of discussion. Each time he tried, she ignored him, and each time she did, he'd frown at her reaction.

"Something's going on with them," Eleanor said. They're not usually like this.

Stan frowned at that and asked. "Have they had a fight or something?"

Eleanor shrugged. "I dunno! They've been like this _all day._ They weren't like this on Friday. When they left here, they were discussing he sister's birthday party and then this morning, it was a total flip. It's like whatever's bothering Mary is making her forget she doesn't like me."

Stan smiled, but didn't deny Mary's dislike. "I'm sure it's nothing, maybe she's just got something on her mind."

Eleanor frowned. "I don't think so."

Stan smiled at her and gave a squeeze to one of her hands. "Give it the day; I'm sure that whatever it is, it'll all blow over by tomorrow.

Eleanor sighed. "If you say so."

* * *

But it didn't blow over. The next day it was even worse. Instead of just Mary being the hostile one in the partnership, Marshall became that way too. Eleanor watched it like a spectator all day. Stan couldn't seem to see it; he just chalked it up to their normal bickering and went about his day. But Eleanor saw it, and later in the afternoon, Charlie had noticed it too.

"Is something going on with them?" he asked.

Eleanor just sighed and continued to type.

The third day, Eleanor knew for sure something was up. She had shown up to the office later than usual, but brought a bag of pastries in hand to appease everybody. She slid through the gate quietly. Not seeing Mary and Marshall were there, she assumed they were out and about with their witnesses and made her way to the kitchenette to store the baked goods.

"You're acting like a child,' Marshall's voice scolded quietly. But Eleanor had good ears, she still heard him. She froze mid step as Mary's voice replied, "Well, I don't give a rats ass."

"What're we listening to?" a voice whispered.

Eleanor jumped and turned to see Stan behind her. She gestured for him to be quiet and pointed at the kitchenette door where voices could still be heard. He looked confused until Mary's could be heard saying, "This is not the time or place, Marshall."

Stan's eyebrows went up at that and they heard Marshall reply, "Than when is Mary? You avoid me like the plague, you don't talk to me. The only time we've seen each other the past three days is here at the office. You can't act like this forever, you know. Eventually, we are going to have this discussion."

"Well, it's not going to be today, alright?" Mary replied, and Eleanor and Stan scurried off to the side hallway and into the supply closet so they weren't caught in the act of their eavesdropping. As Mary's steps walked away, Eleanor gave Stan a superior look and asked, "Well?"

Stan sighed and snagged a pastry out of the bag as they heard Marshall walk past. "Okay, fine," he said. "Something's wrong."

Eleanor hmmphed and snacked on the pastry with Stan until they heard the slam of the door and decided it was safe to come out.

* * *

"What do you think it is?" Eleanor asked the next day as she stood next to Stan and watched Mary and Marshall as they continued to ignore each other for the fourth day in a row.

Stan shrugged. "Who knows? It had to be over the weekend though; you said everything was fine on Friday when they left."

Eleanor nodded. "They can't keep this up forever, can they?"

Stan shrugged. "Who knows? I've never seen them this mad at each other. Whatever it is, it's _big_."

Eleanor frowned and watched as Charlie avoided the pair altogether as he made his way across the office to the door. Like Eleanor and Stan, he knew something was up. He just sensed tension though, he hadn't heard the whispered bicker match like Eleanor and Stan had. "I wish we could just find a way to lock them in the supply closet until they talk and be done with it."

Stan smiled at that, and he an Eleanor went back to watching the show.

On Friday, the fifth day, Eleanor went into Stan's office, not to watch discreetly, but to hide. She wasn't usually like this, but Mary and Marshall had gotten into a disagreement about one of their witnesses, and had begun to bicker; shortly thereafter, they began to snap, and then, they started to yell. Mostly it was about the case. But Eleanor knew it was something else that was bothering them. Most likely it was whatever it was that they had been discussing when she and Stan had been eavesdropping. "This is getting out of control," Eleanor whispered to Charlie. The young man had gone into the office with her in order to avoid the fight. He nodded his agreement to her words as Mary grabbed the ceramic mug off her desk and threw it with all her might at Marshall's head.

The tall man ducked, and the mug shattered into a million pieces against the gate. He stared incredulously at the smashed pottery and then back at Mary with a look of disbelief. Eleanor and Charlie watched her breathe deep as he yelled. "I can't believe you did that! What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Mary yelled. "What's wrong with me? I'll tell you what's wrong, Marshall. You're a hypocrite! You waxed on about me getting into something messy, and when messy happened, you ran! We had sex, and you ran!"

Charlie choked and Eleanor's jaw dropped as Mary grabbed her coat and stormed out of the office. They watched Marshall go after her, and scurried out of Stan's office to see what would happen next. They ran out with enough time to see Marshall slam his hand in the way of the elevator door, earning a glare from Mary. He stormed into the doorway, and Eleanor and Charlie watched him back Mary against the elevator wall while she glared up at him and Marshall blocked her escape with both hands on either side of her waist. The last thing they saw was Marshal leaning close. And then, the doors slid shut with a ping.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the elevator doors pinged again and Stan strode in. Eleanor was picking up the remaining pieces of the coffee mug, and Charlie was standing ready with a mop as he stood there looking at them curiously. She watched as he took in the mess, saw Mary and Marshall's empty desks, sighed, and asked. "What'd I miss?"

Eleanor smirked, and dumped the shards into the trash.

"Oh, Jesus," Stan said, and Eleanor winced when he let his head fall to his desk. "You have got to be kidding me," he moaned into the wood.

Eleanor snorted. "You think I'd make something like that up?"

Stan sighed and shook his head back and forth on the table. "No. no, I believe you." He sat up and Eleanor noticed a big welt forming on his head. "This is going to give me a headache isn't it?"

Eleanor smiled. "You mean your employees, or your desk?"

"Both."

"Probably," Eleanor said.

Stan sighed. "Well, at least they're talking…or rather, yelling about it now. That's some progress right?"

"I suppose," Eleanor replied.

"You think they'll be over it when they come in on Monday?" Stan asked.

Eleanor shrugged. "Who knows? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And see they did. Or, well, Eleanor did. She and Charlie met up with each other as they entered the elevator and made their way up to the top floor. "Nice day," he commented to her softly.

Eleanor nodded an agreement and he let her lead the way through the doors. She immediately went to the coat rack to hang her bag and scarf, and Charlie walked past her to deposit his lunch into the small fridge they had in the kitchenette. She noticed Marshall's computer humming with its efforts, and Mary's desk with two take away cups on it. But no other sign of the two. Figuring it was nothing, and they were somewhere else in the office; she just shrugged and bent to turn on her computer.

Going to retrieve her faxes from the machine, Eleanor saw the copier was out of paper. Frowning, she took the stack over to her desk and made her way back toward the supply closet she and Stan had hid in the other day. The safety door opened as she reached for the knob, and she waved at Stan as she pulled open the door.

"Oh!" Eleanor jumped and covered her mouth in surprise. There they were: Mary against the wall; Marshall blocking her in. They both froze mid kiss and as one their eyes traveled over to see Eleanor standing there before them, her cheeks turning slight pink.

"Morning, Eleanor," Marshall said, breaking the kiss and taking his hand off Mary's butt to salute jauntily.

"Uh…Morning," she replied.

"Something we can help you with?" he asked, letting Mary smack his other hand away and out of her shirt.

"Copy paper," Eleanor replied. She watched Marshall lean over to the top shelf and Mary tugged down her shirt before slipping past Eleanor with a nod. Eleanor watched her go and head to her desk, combing her hair back in place and smiling happily before saying, "Morning Stan!"

He smiled from his place in the doorway of his office as he fumbled for his key. "Morning, Mary."

Mary was booting up her computer when Marshall's voice said, "Here you go Eleanor."

Eleanor turned back to the closet to see Marshall holding out the white wrapped ream of paper and said. "Thank you," she said, but her brain still in shock.

"No problem," he said. Smiling brightly, he began whistling a jaunty tune and adjusted his belt buckle before slipping past her and into the office. "Stan," he greeted kindly, nodding at his boss as he passed him on his way to the desk.

Stan waved distractedly as he turned the office key and made his way through the door. Not seeing that his two marshals had just come out of the same supply closet. Eleanor watched as Marshall passed by Mary's desk on the way to his own, and snagged one of her coffee cups before slipping into his chair. He smiled goofily at Mary as he sat, and she rolled her eyes as she began to type. This made Eleanor smile. Later, Stan marveled at the two marshal's change in attitudes, and asked her if she knew what had happened. Eleanor simply chuckled and kept her mouth shut about the supply closet before giving him a form to sign to put in a lock.

* * *

A/N: I miss Eleanor, she was feisty. I hope she shows up in the fourth season. Well, I hope that you enjoyed the read, please feel free to review!


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